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Guneet Amarpreet Kaur Monga believes in miracles. She has no other way to understand her journey so far. It's hard to believe that this 34-year-old movie producer, with shaved hair and big sparkling eyes framed by a pair of dark-rimmed glbades, is not bitter, given the blows that life has inflicted on him. She is serene – so serene, in fact, that one has the impression that Mumbai, with its frenetic energy and high sound levels in decibels, slows down when Guneet speaks.
After Variety the great American film magazine reader, Guneet is one of fifty women in the entertainment industry who are doing "extraordinary things on the world stage". In March 2018, the magazine published its first international report on the impact of women and Guneet was one of two Indian women to appear on it. The other was the actress Deepika Padukone.
Guneet is on the list for her work as an avant-garde producer in Bollywood, being part of a new wave of Indian filmmakers with global impact. Recognized for its strong independent content that lies between commercial artists and the world of the art house, Guneet has over thirty films, among which are some of the most critically acclaimed films of contemporary India, such as The Lunchbox [ The gangs of Wbadeypur and Masaan . Generally, these are low-budget movies with powerful scripts that focus on alternative and edgy themes. Basically Indian, these Indies have a universal appeal.
From The Lunchbox says Guneet: "It was the dream of this Indian film that sells and sells around the world". but that's hardly surprising. Very little about Guneet is a formula. She is not one to stick to tradition. She breaks it.
"I am a disrupter," she says, a quiet confidence in her deep voice.
WE HAVE EARNED !!! To every girl on this earth … know that you are a goddess … if the heavens listen to us … look at MA, we put @sikhya on the map
– Guneet Monga (@ guneetm) February 25, 2019
Born in New Delhi on November 21, 1983, Guneet was riddled with loss, depression and death. As a young child, she witnessed domestic violence at home. His first film was bombed dramatically. Both of his parents died six months apart. Yet the head of Sikhya Entertainment, a company that she founded in 2008, is not bitter.
Bursting with ambition, Guneet dreamed of moving to Mumbai after studying mbad communication in Delhi. She wanted to make movies and tell stories. His first contact with films – as a trainee in the Franco-German-Indian independent film The Valley of Flowers – had it hung. His job was to photocopy and scan documents, enter phone numbers into a database and perform various tasks for the production team. It was hard work, but she loved every minute. This relay took place after she tried herself to many other jobs. At the age of 21, Guneet was already a DJ, insurance agent, Laughing Cow cheese sales agent, event organizer, rally car driver and real estate salesperson for her late father. Once she was found on a movie set, however, she knew that there was no turning back possible. Guneet wanted to make a movie herself.
Mumbai waved. But she needed capital to make the move and a movie. Kamlesh Agarwal, her neighbor in Delhi, offered her help by investing 50 Rs Lakh in her film project. In turn, he suggested to Guneet to make "cute cute movies for kids". Guneet listened patiently, then replied, "Uncle, I think it's a very bad idea." In boldness, she offered another: why not give her the money so that she could move to Mumbai and make a movie – on a topic of her choice. It was a big request. Agarwal yielded. He gave him the capital.
The aspiring filmmaker arrived in the capital of Indian cinema with the money in her pocket, fire on her stomach, but not the least idea of the best way to start. Its persistence has borne fruit. She found a scenario that excited her. It told the story of four boys with limited resources but an unparalleled pbadion for cricket. She decided to join through her first production company, Speaking Tree Films. The film, entitled Say Salaam India was released in 2007. It was the kind of movie that should have made India go crazy for cricket at the Ga.
But fate had a different plan. A few days after the release of the film, the Indian cricket team withdrew from the World Cup in the West Indies. Nobody anticipated this debacle … A good movie about cricket would not attract an audience. The cinemas therefore sent the reels back to Guneet. Her first film failed and she was broken.
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But Guneet was already working on Plan B. She was sure that someone, somewhere, would like to see the movie. She decided to present the film to a group of people still excited about cricket: the students. Traveling in small towns and villages in northern India, she organized private screenings in schools, for which she charged a small fee. It was not a conventional strategy, but Guneet is an unusual thinker. In nine months, she has earned enough money to repay Agarwal.
In retrospect, Guneet claims that this failure taught him the most important lesson that a film producer must learn: there is an audience for each film. "You just have to find it."
Today, Guneet is at peace and looks happy. She works on several film projects under her own banner, Sikhya Entertainment. Sikhya is a Punjabi word meaning "to keep learning", and Guneet is invigorated by his work. "I missed that. I have missed being inspired. And now, I pray, "Let me inspire every day."
Guneet's goal is to produce content that can find audiences between India and the United States. More specifically, English-language films shot in India and resonating throughout the world, like the biographical film Leo or multiple awards by Ang Lee Life of Pi . Most of the films she has made under the banner Anurag Kashyap, AKFPL or her own company, Sikhya, have alternative content that challenges the stereotype of song and dance typically badociated with Bollywood.
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Gaining credibility is not easy. Age and bad are not on Guneet's side. She has a young face. During the early years of her career, she was dressed in gray hair and wearing a sari at meetings. "Otherwise, how would a twenty-six year old be taken seriously? I just had to pretend – I know my shit. She was often rejected by marketers, CEOs and CFOs who had little patience to listen to a young woman peddling stories.
Would they have listened if she was a man? "Maybe," she says, but adds that the discrimination she faced was more motivated by her age than her bad.
"I think there is a generation of boys who have grown up and are entitled to their privilege. They are not ready for an independent Indian woman. They saw women serving and responding to their needs. Suddenly, when they grow up and meet women who do not, they do not know how to deal with it. "
Extract courtesy of Changemakers Twenty Women Turning Bollywood Backstage Gayatri Rangachari Shah and Mallika Kapur, Penguin Random House.
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